Blue Jays: 12 predictions for the upcoming year

As the calendar flips to 2018, I’ve come up with some predictions for what will happen next year, both during the year and for next offseason.

Baseball is incredibly hard to predict. We can study the numbers and build expectations for the big leagues, but the truth is we never really know how things are going to shake out over the course of 162 games. For example, if you predicted the Twins would make the playoffs, or a Yankee rookie would hit 52 home runs, then I’d like to talk to you about some investment advice.

The Blue Jays had several examples of this point in 2017 as well, as we watched a team that was expected to contend for a playoff spot spend the entire year in last place in their division, save for the final day of the season. We also watched Justin Smoak unexpectedly transform into an All-Star before our eyes, when just a few months before the majority of us were hoping the front office would just cut him altogether.

With that in mind, I hope you’ll understand that the predictions I’m about to make below are very likely to end up as laughably wrong in a year’s time. I am making what I’d consider “educated predictions”, but with so many variables at play things could change in a real hurry. The success or failure of not only the Blue Jays, but the other teams in the American League and within the East division will have an impact on how things play out.

So without further adieu, here are my 12 predictions for the 2018 calendar year for the Toronto Blue Jays.